Heading into the ninth inning, victory and a Game 4 on Saturday night looked to be imminent for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders as they possessed a 2-0 lead over the Indianapolis Indians. However, quicker than a hard hit line drive leaving the ball park, the home crowd at PNC Field was left in shock.

The pitching matchup of the evening was a battle of youth versus experience as Indianapolis sent Pittsburgh Pirates' top prospect Tyler Glasnow against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ace and 11-game winner Kyle Davies.

From the start, the RailRiders' starter mowed down his opposition by striking out three in the first two innings. Success would not come as effortlessly for Glasnow.

Immediately, due to a lead-off single, the lanky starter had to deal with a runner on the base paths in the form of Slade Heathcott. After a Ali Castillo ground out moved the runner to second, Heathcott took off and stole third base. But that is not all! Indians' catcher Tony Sanchez's attempt to throw out Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's speedy outfielder was off the mark, resulting in the first run of the game waltzing home nonchalantly.

Despite Indianapolis' flamethrower quickly finding his groove after the RailRiders' score, he ran into trouble in the fifth inning by allowing another lead-off base knock, this time to Ben Gamel, as well as a free pass to Gary Sanchez. Though Glasnow did sit down the next two batters (Kyle Roller and Aaron Judge) he was unable to exit unscathed as Cole Figueroa lined an RBI single to extend his team's advantage to two. 

While the future pitching star of the Pirates was finished after five frames (1 ER and 7 K), Davies' had allowed just one baserunner. The veteran continued his dominance for three more innings before turning over the fate of the game to Johnny Barbato. 

Since being recalled from Double-A Trenton, Barbato had a 4-0 record and a 0.36 ERA. Sadly for his team, he picked the worse time to have his first bad performance at the level.

The ninth inning began with the first three Indians reaching base (Dan Gamache walk, Steve Lombardozzi single, and Alen Hanson single), which brought outfielder Gorkys Hernandez to the plate. Shockingly with the bases loaded, Barbato hit him with a pitch. 2-1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Next, MLB.com's 33rd prospect Josh Bell stunned the home faithful by tying the game with a sacrifice fly. 

After a Willy Garcia single to re-load the bases, the biggest hit of the night came from Minor League veteran John Bowker as he shot a ball through the middle of the infield for a base knock. 4-2 Indians. At this moment, RailRiders' manager Dave Miley had seen enough and replaced the struggling closer with Mark Montgomery, who quickly ended the threat. 

Did Scranton/Wilkes-Barre have a comeback left in them? Even though the RailRiders were facing the International League's saves leader Blake Wood, the team quickly jumped on him with a Gamel single. Regardless of Indianapolis' closer moving one out away from sending his team to the next round, MLB.com's 19th prospect Aaron Judge singled and Figueroa walked to keep the rally alive while loading the bases for Gregorio Petit. Petit stepped into the batter's box with an opportunity to keep the season alive, but ultimately he could not, as he grounded out to shortstop Alen Hanson to conclude the game and series. The were heading to the Governors' Cup Finals.

The Governors' Cup Finals will begin on Tuesday night from either Columbus or Norfolk (series currently tied at one game apiece).

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About the author
Peyton Wesner
Editor, that has loved and watched sports. He enjoys traveling the country to watch division one college basketball and professional baseball, basketball, and football. In addition, Peyton is a huge enthusiast of Missouri Valley Conference basketball and International League (Triple-A) baseball as he focuses about these topics and many more on his sports blog Courtside with PW at http://courtsidewpw.blogspot.com/?m=1. You can contact him through his email, [email protected], or his twitter, @courtsidewpw.